SAMI’S SMACKDOWN By Sami Becker
HORSE RACING A Reader Wants More
M
ay 7, 2022 was this year’s Kentucky Derby. Once the bell sounded, the one and one quarter mile race was over in 2 minutes and 2.61 seconds. The winner, Rich Strike, had 30 to 1 odds in the morning and almost 81 to 1 final odds. Here’s what a reader had to say to me recently. My wife and I went to the Kentucky Derby in the beginning of May and had a great time! Always do. Your magazine has great information about all the casinos. I have a question, that’s more of a suggestion. Why don’t you also include information about horse racing in your magazine? Would love to see a regular column with on and off-track betting information and schedules. Track information and horse racing tips would be great too! On another note, we just realized that you send the magazine every month in an email, so we just registered for that which will help. The magazine racks at the casinos are usually empty by the end of the month so up until now, if we didn’t get in soon enough to pick up an issue, we’d go to your website and read it there. This will be easier to have it by email. Hope to see a horse racing section! Thanks for listening. Gary Morrison—Scottsdale, AZ
$2.4 Million – Largest amount lost on a bet. $500 to $1,000 – Price of a high-end hat (90% of female spectators wear hats). 120,000 – Number of Mint Juleps served over Kentucky Derby weekend, requiring 1,000 pounds of fresh mint and 60,000 pounds of ice. 522,000 – Number of cans of beer that were consumed.
Great suggestion, we will definitely incorporate more horse and dog racing info. Feedback from our readers are important to us because we want to provide interesting information our readers want to know about! We have incorporated many sections into our magazine over the years at the request of our readers. Thanks for the advice and for being our loyal fans. We appreciate you!
142,000 – Number of hot dogs that were eaten. $4 Million – The highest purchase price at auction for a Kentucky Derby winner (Fusaichi Pegasus, 2000). $1,200 – The lowest purchase price at auction for a Kentucky Derby winner (Canonero II, 1971).
FUN FACTS & HISTORY OF THE 2022 KENTUCKY DERBY 147,000 – Number of attendees that attended the 2022 Kentucky Derby (15 times more compared to the first race in 1875). $233 Million – Total wagers in 2021 (85% more than in 2020). $273.8 Million – Total wagers in 2022.
554 – Number of red roses awarded to the Kentucky Derby (known as the “Run for the Roses”) winner each year. 1:59:40 – The fastest time ever ran at the Kentucky Derby by Secretariat in 1973. $50,000 – The small fortune it costs to enter a horse in the Kentucky Derby ($25,000 entry fee and $25,000 starting fee).
$3 Million – Guaranteed purse ($1.86 Million for the winner). $1.2 Million – Won by a Texas woman on an $18 bet on a series of races in 2018 (second largest in Kentucky Derby History).
34 Arizona Gaming Guide | June 2022 | azgamingguide.com
I love to hear your stories, good and bad. Write me at Sami@azgamingguide.com and good luck! $ (Source: WalletHub Reports)
